


An Unexpected Request

by kate_taylor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, James Potter - Freeform, Lily Potter - Freeform, Maruaders, POA, Peter Pettigrew - Freeform, Prisoner of Azkaban, Severus Snape - Freeform, Siremus - Freeform, sirius black - Freeform, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 05:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15857583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate_taylor/pseuds/kate_taylor
Summary: Albus asks Remus to teach at Hogwarts.





	An Unexpected Request

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Thanks for reading. I have not written in years, so ignore my mistakes. I recently re-read Prisoner of Azkaban and this scene would not leave my head so... here!

The village was barely awake when a loud crack broke through the silence and echoed off the empty cobbled streets. Hogsmeade was often quiet this time of year and, at this hour, the local residents were not yet awake when a man apparated inside. Remus Lupin was tall and dressed in his best shabby robes, his long fingers curled tightly around his battered briefcase. He was unsure if he would need it for this meeting but thought it best to look smart anyways.

            He spun around the street to gather his bearings; it had been a long time since he’d walked freely in this village, but he still felt like he knew its every corner. He knew which corners to turn, where each dead end was – he even knew the exact colour of brick each stone was that he was walking across. It had been several years since, but the village never changed, even if he wished it would.

            His back stiffened as he glanced down the path behind him. He could just make out a dilapidated home at the end of the village, still in shambles, and still as deserted as it had been over thirteen years ago. Remus’ nostrils flared, and he pressed his lips together tightly to keep his lip from curling. He loathed that shack. Today, he would not allow himself to think about what that place represented, nor the winding path underneath his feet. Even if he was more familiar with the tight, dirt tunnel that led from the shack to the base of the Whomping Willow tree. That place, once a place of solace and happy memories, now haunted him just as much as it haunted the rest of the village of Hogsmeade. He forced himself to turn around and move towards the other end of the village; towards Hogwarts.

            Only a few days had passed since he’d received an owl from Dumbeldore, requesting his presence. It was unusual, as Remus rarely received correspondence, and he had not received an envelope sealed with the thick, green wax of the school’s seal in fifteen years. Coincidentally, the barn owl had crashed into his home the same day the news broke out.

            _Not a coincidence_ , Remus had told himself.

            He was sitting in his kitchen when his usual owl dropped off that mornings’ copy of _The Daily Prophet_. It wasn’t until Remus unfolded his paper that his heart sunk, and his tea cup slipped from his fingers. The face that stared out at him on the front page was not one that he’d seen in years. Dark, matted hair, and cheeks hollowed out to nothing but waxy skin and bone. The man in the picture was almost unrecognizable from the handsome man he’d once been, but his eyes had not changed; Remus could never forget those dark eyes. They weren’t the happy, laughing, carefree eyes he knew. They were dark. Haunted, even. But they belonged to his one-time friend, Sirius Black.

            It had been thirteen years since he’d last seen that face – thirteen _long_ years. Even now, he could not bear to think of those first few years after Voldemort had murdered the Potters. Sirius had done the unthinkable and betrayed the closest friend he’d ever had, divulging the whereabouts of James, Lily, and Harry for – what? The question haunted Remus, like a dark shadow that never left the back of his mind. What had happened to Sirius that he could have thought about betraying James? The two were thick as thieves. They were brothers. And then, if the murder of the entire Potter family were not enough, Peter – foolish Peter – tracked Sirius down and confronted him. There were many rumours about what happened between them, but there were details that Remus knew as fact. Peter had accused Sirius of betraying Lily and James, Sirius had laughed, and the largest part of Peter they ever found was his finger. Peter’s mother had confirmed that detail to Remus herself.

            In 1981, in the span of less than 12 hours, Remus had lost every friend he’d ever had.

            After James and Lily died, Remus was lost. He did not eat, could not sleep, he no longer cared about anything. Dumbledore had even forbidden him from seeing Harry – his last connection to the life he knew. At times he wondered about the boy but tried not to think about him too much. Harry would be in Hogwarts himself now, just starting his third year. Remus allowed himself the smallest of smiles as he thought about his third year – the same year James and Sirius had figured out what he was and still accepted him for it.

            Remus shook his head. He’d reached the steps of the school and was pushing the large wooden doors of the entrance hall open. It was difficult to be here without the past crushing down upon him.

Was it the warm summer air, or was it getting difficult to breathe?

He took a deep breath and continued his way to the headmaster’s office. He only had a vague idea of what today’s meeting would be about. Dumbledore had sent his owl, asking Remus for a meeting and, although he did not explicitly say it, it could not have been a coincidence that Dumbledore’s owl had arrived the same morning _The Prophet_ reported the breakout. They were here to talk about Sirius.

Had Dumbledore known this entire time that they had been unregistered animagus running through the school?

Did Dumbledore want to know about the secret passages that Remus knew of?

Where _was_ The Marauders Map?

“Ah, Remus – please come in and have a seat. Would you like some tea?”

“Good morning, professor Dumbledore. Yes, actually, tea sounds lovely.”

Remus had used the password (chocolate frog?) to enter into Dumbledore’s study and he was not surprised to see the old man already waiting for him. Given his special circumstances for his admittance to Hogwarts, Remus had been inside of this office many times before. It, too, had not changed. Dumbledore still kept his silver instruments spinning curiously on his desk, and his phoenix still sat upon its’ perch.

Dumbeldore must have seen his eyes wander to the bird as he smiled mischievously, flicking his wand to pour Remus a cupof tea. “I’m afraid Fawkes is going through his own transformation period. There was a student at the end of last term who – well, let’s just say Fawkes had quite the time of it. Sit,” he insisted again, “And please, call me Albus. We are no longer professor and student, Remus.”

Remus felt a bit of heat rising under his collar as he took his seat. It was undoubtedly strange to be sitting with Dumbeldore as an equal, but that was what he was now. He had the unmistakable feeling that there was more to the story about Fawkes regeneration than he was letting on, but he knew he would never get an answer, even if he asked. “Forgive me… Albus,” Remus felt himself smile slightly as he tried out the name, “Some habits die hard, I’m afraid. You look well.”

“I am old, but you are kind for saying so.” Dumbledore replied as he took a seat across from Remus, still smiling as he surveyed him over his half-moon glasses. Dumbledore frowned “The years have been hard on you, Remus.”

“Unfortunately,” Remus grimaced, “It comes with the territory.” There was a beat of silence before he continued, “I must admit, I was not entirely surprised to receive your letter.”

“Really?” Dumbledore sat back, looking surprised, “Even though I didn’t provide many details?”

“Your timing was, er, uncanny. Naturally, what with the break-out…” Remus let his voice trail off, but Dumbledore waited. He was going to make him say it. The words almost stuck in his throat, but he cleared it quietly, “You want to speak with me about Sirius.”

There was no need to use his last name, as everyone seemed to be doing these days.

_Did you hear about Sirius Black escaping? Murdered all those people…_

_Sirius Black? Wasn’t he that bloke in Azkaban?_

_My cousin reckons she saw Sirius Black walking down her street the other morning, can you believe that!_

To Remus, he would always be just Sirius.

He waited for Dumbledore to speak, but the man simply nodded softly. “Unfortunately, Sirius Black is partly responsible for the reason you are here today.”

 _Partly_? Remus’ forehead creased into a frown as he stared at Dumbledore, his curiosity piqued.

“Unless you have been living as a complete recluse, I am sure you are undoubtedly aware that Sirius Black has, in fact, escaped from Azkaban. Impressive actually, as no one has ever managed to ever do it before. I should say that I do hope they have enough sense to ask him how he did it, if they manage to capture him again.”

Remus blinked at Dumbledore. He did not see a scenario where Sirius would get to live to speak for very long when they captured him again. If they captured him… It had already been a week since the escape and, other than a few unreliable reports, the ministry seemed to have nothing to go off of. They had no idea where Sirius Black could have gone.

“Naturally,” Dumbledore continued, “They believe that Sirius escaped in order to finish the murder that his master could not. They say it is Sirius’ intention to find and murder Harry Potter.”

At the sound of his best friend’s sons’ name, Remus sat up a little straighter in his seat. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as he sat uncomfortably in his chair. This was _not_ something _The Prophet_ or the Muggle news had talked about. Armed and dangerous, of course, but not that he had come back to murder the last of the Potters. Harry.

“Dumbledore – Albus, you can’t know that for certain-“ Remus stopped himself before he could finish, already worried the damage had been done. He was still, even now, defending his friend.

“They say that he’d been talking in his sleep for quite some time, repeating the same thing over and over ‘ _He’s at Hogwarts.’_ As we are getting close to the start of term, The Ministry feels that I should be taking extra precaution.” Dumbledore said, unable to keep the irritation out of his voice. “At the start of term, the school will have a number of Azkaban’s dementors standing guard outside the school. The other teachers are, of course, furious, but I am afraid my hands are tied.”

Remus stared at Dumbledore, who was still frowning. The man’s fingertips had pressed together, and he seemed to be staring at the tips of them. He took a deep breath before continuing, “And that brings us to why you are here today, Remus. The Ministry wishes to take their security measures and I wish to take mine. I have asked you here today to offer you the Defence Against the Dark Arts position. Naturally, you heard about what happened to Gilderoy-“

“Sorry?” Remus blinked quickly at Dumbledore. He was not sure he had heard him properly – Defence Against the Dark Arts?

“Hm? Gilderoy Lockhart. Unfortunately, he accidentally had his memory modified by a wand backfiring. Most unfortunate, but as I understand, he was attempting to wipe a student’s memory-“  
            “No. I mean, yes, I heard about Lockhart, but… You want me to teach.” Remus repeated, still staring at Dumbledore as if he had gone mad. “Here. At Hogwarts. Defence Against the Dark Arts.”

Remus had said all of these things as statements and Dumbledore simply stared at him, as if waiting for him to go on. Remus suddenly laughed, “Professor Dumbledore,” old habits certainly died hard, “You do realize that there is an entire _chapter_ on me in the student’s textbooks and you want for me to teach them?” Remus could recall the day he flipped through his textbook and found the chapter on _Werewolves_. Page 394…

“I have complete faith in your competence to teach our students how not _all_ werewolves are evil creatures to be feared and are entirely capable of sitting in your office, drinking tea, whilst having and entirely civilized conversation.”

Remus’ hand stayed on the cup of tea he’d been about to take a sip from and set it carefully on the desk. “Dumbledore – Albus.” He sighed patiently, “I’m not sure if you understand exactly how… Difficult I found coming here today. This is home. This was my home and what you’re asking me is to be here. Full time. Albus, I cannot, this place-“ Remus could feel that darkness closing in around the corners of his mind again, his chest tightening. He feared this place and the idea of what it could do to him.

“I am asking you,” Albus replied very calmly, “To come and teach at this school, not only because I have complete confidence in you teaching ability, but I can think of no better person than Sirius Black’s best friend to try to help us protect this school. To protect James Potter’s son.”

Albus’ words were gentle, but they cut Remus to his core. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe deeply through his nose as he thought of Sirius, Peter, and James. He was sure his heart was going to burst from his chest and he fought the nausea that rose to the back of his throat. He swallowed hard and folded his hands into his lap to keep them from shaking. This was why Dumbledore had asked him here today. Not to give details about Sirius and name the many possible ways that he could enter the castle, but to protect it. To protect another Potter from Sirius.

“I know I ask too much,” Dumbledore began, causing Remus to laugh nervously under his breath, “But you know I would not ask if I did not think you were capable.”

Dumbledore did ask too much, Remus thought to himself as he focused on his scarred knuckles. The full moon was this weekend and there was sure to be a few more scars on these hands after that, and then he would… what? Come to Hogwarts? Begin teaching at the school? Give information on how Sirius could get into the castle? Tell Dumbledore, finally, what Sirius was…

It didn’t seem that he knew – that _anybody_ knew that James, Sirius, and Peter, had all learned at the age of fifteen to become Animagus. At no point in this conversation had it come up at all. For a moment, Remus’ mouth twitched as he thought about telling Dumbledore the truth, but he found the words stuck in his throat.

“Albus-“

“Remus.”

Remus’ hands shook as he clenched them tighter together, but he felt his head moving into a tense nod. “Yes,” He replied very quietly, “For… For Harry…”

His stomach dropped as soon as he said the words. He would be seeing Harry, _teaching_ Harry, and the boy would have no idea who Remus was to him. For he could never tell Harry how he held him as a baby. How he and Sirius once babysat and managed to put his diaper on backwards. How Harry grabbed onto Remus’ hand once to help himself stand up. That was the last time he saw the boy before Lily and James went into hiding. Remus had been visiting and Harry, as Lily and James had told him, had just learned to stand and was grabbing anything that he could to keep his balance. The boy had grabbed tightly onto Remus’ hand and, for a moment, Remus was amazed with the child and his innocence. Adults had flinched at the scars on Remus’ hand, but Harry had held on tight.

Again, Remus shook his head to banish the memory out of his mind and remembered where he was. “I’ll do it.”

“Wonderful!” Dumbledore replied with a quick smile. _At least he’s thrilled about this_ , thought Remus. “I will organize your paperwork and have already instructed Severus to begin brewing wolfsbane for you. We will of course be taking every precaution, but I should think we can avoid using the shrieking shack this time around.”

Remus blinked at Dumbledore, “Severus? As in Severus Snape?”

Again, Dumbledore nodded, “Yes. Professor Snape teaches our potions class and is head of Slytherin House. I trust this will not be a problem for you?”

Once again, the darkness pressed around his mind, but Remus shook his head, “No. Of course not. School was quite a long time ago and we are both mature adults now.”  

_Head of Slytherin House! James and Sirius will-_

Remus stopped the thought from fully forming and smiled at Dumbledore calmly, “I am sure you are aware that the full moon is this weekend. I am afraid I will not be able to be at the school any sooner than the first of September.” He still could not believe he was saying the words – he was going back to Hogwarts.  
            “Not to worry. I will arrange for you to take the Hogwarts Express to the school as apparition will be closed from Hogsmeade that day for extra security measures. It will give you a chance to meet some of our charming students before you get here. I am sure you will appreciate Fred and George Weasley, they are remarkably mischievous.” There was a twinkle in Dumbledore’s eye that left Remus feeling as if there were more he’d like to say about the Weasley boys, but Remus wasn’t sure he was ready to hear it just yet. He gave a small nod and began to gather his things.

“Right. I am sure you will send me any necessary paperwork I need to fill out via owl. I think I am going to have my hands tied over the next few days coming up with lesson plans.”  
            “Ah. About that – I have been told there is a wonderful boggart lurking in the staff lounge. I thought you may wish to start them with that?”

Despite everything, Remus found himself smiling a little. He could already see a bit of the lesson forming in his mind – explaining what the Boggart is, how it changes form, perhaps getting them to fight one…

“Remus?”

He turned, pulled from his musings, and looked back at Dumbledore.

“You should know. He looks extraordinarily like him.”

He blinked, “I beg your pardon?”

“Except the eyes,” Dumbledore continued, his voice becoming softer, “They’re Lily’s.”

 

Remus did not remember the walk back to the village that morning. More residents were starting to emerge and go about their morning routine, but he kept his path, repeating the same words over in his head.

 _He looks extraordinarily like him_.

 

***

In that moment, Remus did not know that in two weeks from now he would be sitting on a train, fast asleep as the locomotive wound its way to Hogwarts. He did not know his compartment would go cold and that an icy hand would grip his heart, making him feel as if he would never be happy again. He did not know his eyes would open and he thought, for one single, exciting moment, he was truly elated. Because, when he opened them, James Potter was sitting across from him on a train to Hogwarts. He was James in every way, except in one tiny detail.

***

He had green eyes, and a thin, lightning shaped scar on his forehead.

***

Remus’ patronus was magnificent.


End file.
